Meshuggah
Icy winds and a thin layer of snow mark the arrival of tonight’s Swedish invasion. Friday the 13th is always a popular night for putting on a metal show, tonight is no exception with several going on in the vicinity, including another just downstairs. This doesn’t stop the room from filling with eager extreme metal fans; the excitement and expectation is palpable.
The Haunted
Special Guests, Gothenburg’s THE HAUNTED (8) hit the stage hard and, after a moment or two of technical problems with vocalist Aro’s microphone, they deliver the goods. Rising from the ashes of melodeath pioneers At The Gates; THE HAUNTED’s sound, and line up, has changed significantly over the years. Tonight their fast furious metal has certainly riled the Birmingham crowd. The pit is a picture of masculinity; fists pumping, bodies writhing, faces contorted in anger.
The Haunted
Some of the best material from tonight’s set comes from their latest album ‘Exit Wounds’ (2014); notably ‘Time (Will Not Heal)’ which is served with a generous helping of groove. They close the set with ‘Hate Song’ from their self-titled 1998 debut – a final aggressive blast for the pit to sink its teeth into. The crowd are left wanting more and, with an album due for release later this year, I’m sure THE HAUNTED will be back soon to deliver it.
Meshuggah
A siren drones out from the darkened stage for what seems like forever, proclaiming the beginning of MESHUGGAH’s (9) trance inducing set. Their complex rhythms, irregular time signatures and downtuned eight-string guitars do something very unusual to the mind. You try to resist, recoiling from the chaos, but eventually you’re trapped within the churning otherworldly soundscape they create – lost within your own synapses.
There is little to no crowd interaction from MESHUGGAH, so no distraction or escape from the relentlessness of the performance. Lasers and smoke obscure the stage and this all adds to the immersive mind-bending experience. There isn’t a lot of space to move but the pit seethes and agitates around me. By the midway point in the set the crowd has become a mass of intoxicated beasts swaying and thrashing to the confusing primitive beats.
Meshuggah
Originators of the sound which inspires the djent genre, tonight’s performance demonstrated to me why they’ve been such an influential band. Set opener ‘Clockworks’ from last year’s ‘The Violent Sleep of Reason’, ‘Bleed’ from 2008’s ‘ObZen’ and ‘Demiurge’ from 2012’s ‘Koloss’ all stand out as highlights but to be honest tonight wasn’t about individual stand out tracks. The set melds together in the mind, a massive tangle of noise – beautiful and challenging in equal measure.
You can still catch the tour if you’re quick:
- 15.01.2017 Glasgow (UK) – O2 ABC
- 17.01.2017 Belfast (UK) – Limelight
- 18.01.2017 Dublin (Ireland) – Vicar Street
- 19.01.2017 Manchester (UK) – O2 Ritz
- 20.01.2017 London (UK) – O2 Forum Kentish Town
IMAGES BY PAUL THRUPP PHOTOGRAPHY – FULL GALLERY HERE
